CVE-2019-5736
Description
runc through 1.0-rc6, as used in Docker before 18.09.2 and other products, allows attackers to overwrite the host runc binary (and consequently obtain host root access) by leveraging the ability to execute a command as root within one of these types of containers: (1) a new container with an attacker-controlled image, or (2) an existing container, to which the attacker previously had write access, that can be attached with docker exec. This occurs because of file-descriptor mishandling, related to /proc/self/exe.
Official description from the CVE record, published by mitre. Copyright © 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. See /security/cve/legal for the CVE license. View the record on cve.org
Key data
EPSS
- Score
- 0.98452 (98.5% probability)
- Percentile
- 99.9%
- Scores of
- Nov 10, 2026
- Model
- v2026.06.15
References
- github.com/opencontainers/runc/commit/6635b4f0c6af3810594d2…
- RHSA-2019:0408 (access.redhat.com)vendor-advisory
- github.com/rancher/runc-cve
- RHSA-2019:0401 (access.redhat.com)vendor-advisory
- github.com/docker/docker-ce/releases/tag/v18.09.2
- synology.com/security/advisory/Synology_SA_19_06
- security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190307-0008
- RHSA-2019:0303 (access.redhat.com)vendor-advisory
- tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdviso…vendor-advisory
- github.com/q3k/cve-2019-5736-poc
- 46359 (exploit-db.com)exploit
- github.com/opencontainers/runc/commit/0a8e4117e7f715d5fbeef…
- aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/AWS-2019-002
- openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/02/11/2
- kubernetes.io/blog/2019/02/11/runc-and-cve-2019-5736
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2019-5736
- 46369 (exploit-db.com)exploit
- RHSA-2019:0304 (access.redhat.com)vendor-advisory
- github.com/Frichetten/CVE-2019-5736-PoC
- support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&doc…
- brauner.github.io/2019/02/12/privileged-containers.html
- twistlock.com/2019/02/11/how-to-mitigate-cve-2019-5736-in-r…
- cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/security-bulletins
- 106976 (securityfocus.com)vdb-entry
- access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/runcescape
- blog.dragonsector.pl/2019/02/cve-2019-5736-escape-from-dock…
- bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1121967
- [mesos-dev] 20190323 CVE-2019-0204: Some Mesos components can be overwritten making arbitrary code execution possible. (lists.apache.org)mailing-list
- [mesos-user] 20190323 CVE-2019-0204: Some Mesos components can be overwritten making arbitrary code execution possible. (lists.apache.org)mailing-list
- [oss-security] 20190323 CVE-2019-0204: Some Mesos components can be overwritten making arbitrary code execution possible. (openwall.com)mailing-list
- support.mesosphere.com/s/article/Known-Issue-Container-Runt…
- openSUSE-SU-2019:1079 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- openSUSE-SU-2019:1227 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- openSUSE-SU-2019:1275 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2019-bc70b381ad (lists.fedoraproject.org)vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2019-6174b47003 (lists.fedoraproject.org)vendor-advisory
- softwaresupport.softwaregrp.com/document/-/facetsearch/docu…
- RHSA-2019:0975 (access.redhat.com)vendor-advisory
- azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/cve-2019-5736-and-runc-vu…
- azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/iot-edge-fix-cve-2019-5736
- [dlab-dev] 20190524 [jira] [Created] (DLAB-723) Runc vulnerability CVE-2019-5736 (lists.apache.org)mailing-list
- [dlab-dev] 20190524 [jira] [Updated] (DLAB-723) Runc vulnerability CVE-2019-5736 (lists.apache.org)mailing-list
- openSUSE-SU-2019:1444 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- openSUSE-SU-2019:1481 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- openSUSE-SU-2019:1499 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- openSUSE-SU-2019:1506 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- [oss-security] 20190628 Re: linux-distros membership application - Microsoft (openwall.com)mailing-list
- [oss-security] 20190706 Re: linux-distros membership application - Microsoft (openwall.com)mailing-list
- [oss-security] 20190706 Re: linux-distros membership application - Microsoft (openwall.com)mailing-list
- USN-4048-1 (usn.ubuntu.com)vendor-advisory
- openSUSE-SU-2019:2021 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2019-2baa1f7b19 (lists.fedoraproject.org)vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2019-c1dac1b3b8 (lists.fedoraproject.org)vendor-advisory
- [dlab-dev] 20190923 [jira] [Assigned] (DLAB-723) Runc vulnerability CVE-2019-5736 (lists.apache.org)mailing-list
- openSUSE-SU-2019:2245 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- openSUSE-SU-2019:2286 (lists.opensuse.org)vendor-advisory
- [oss-security] 20191023 Membership application for linux-distros - VMware (openwall.com)mailing-list
- [oss-security] 20191029 Re: Membership application for linux-distros - VMware (openwall.com)mailing-list
- GLSA-202003-21 (security.gentoo.org)vendor-advisory
- [dlab-dev] 20200525 [jira] [Deleted] (DLAB-723) Runc vulnerability CVE-2019-5736 (lists.apache.org)mailing-list
- [geode-issues] 20200831 [jira] [Created] (GEODE-8471) Dependency security issues in geode-core-1.12 (lists.apache.org)mailing-list
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/163339/Docker-Container-Escap…
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/165197/Docker-runc-Command-Ex…
- [oss-security] 20240201 runc: CVE-2024-21626: high severity container breakout attack (openwall.com)mailing-list
- [oss-security] 20240201 Re: runc: CVE-2024-21626: high severity container breakout attack (openwall.com)mailing-list
- [oss-security] 20240202 Re: Re: runc: CVE-2024-21626: high severity container breakout attack (openwall.com)mailing-list
Timeline
- ID reserved
- Record published
- Record last updated
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Data from the CVE Program (MITRE), CISA KEV and FIRST EPSS. CVSS is owned by FIRST and used by permission. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE, CISA or FIRST. Data as of Nov 10, 2026, 19:49 UTC. Sources and licenses